January 8, 2012

Saturday night at Ice Sheffield saw Ben Bowns lead the SteelDogs to a well deserved 2-0 win over the Peterborough Phantoms.

Andre Payette’s high flying team came out of the blocks in the first period which was in stark contrast to the way they started against the same team they played back on the 30th Dec.

The SteelDogs dominated the 1st period putting great pressure on King in the Phantoms net on numerous occasions.

Lloyd Gibson had a great chance on the Peterborough doorstep which King kicked away and Ozolins hit the post after pulling a great move to create himself the chance for the shot.

The Dogs finally took the lead as Greg Wood manged to trickle a puck through the equipment of the Peterborough goalie late on in the period and Sheffield would go in 1-0 up.

The 2nd period continued in much the same fashion as Sheffield again saw King in fine form between the Peterborough pipes.

The Phantoms had their best chance of the period inside the first 3 minutes of the period as it was their turn to see the puck fly back off the post.

Sheffield continued to outbattle the Phantoms in most areas on the ice as Peterborough really struggled to clear the zone on the first attempt. The pressure was building as another chance for the SteelDogs was kicked off the line by a covering defenceman with the puck in behind King.

A penalty on Sheffield’s Andrew Hirst with 4.28 left led to a great powerplay chance for Jeff Glowa to eqsualise but he couldn’t get a proper connection on the puck and it safely went wide.

Ozolins then created the final chance of the periodas he got himself free down the wing and centred the puck to Sykes but the puck was fired into the chest of King.

Ben Bowns made a glove save on Jeff Glowa as Peterborough had an early powerplay chance in the 3rd . Glowa would then have the best chance of the evening for the equaliser as he broke free short handed and was pulled down as he went in on goal. A penalty shot was awarded which the Phantoms star saw saved by Bowns as he protected his shut out.

The 3rd period was a bit more even as the longer the game went without a 2nd Sheffield goal the more the Phantoms were believing they could get back into the game.

It was Ben Morgan with the next good chance for Sheffield though as he made a great interception on the Phantoms blue line, created himself space but fired the shot straight into the chest pads of King.

With 2.53 left of the game it was Llyod Gibson who got the insurance goal for the SteelDogs as he made a move from the wing, crashed the net and saw the puck trickle into the Phantoms net.

It was a long overdue goal for the Sheffield team as with a bit better finishing and a bounce of the puck here and there they would have taken this game by the end of the 2nd period.

Peterborough brought a bit more fight and spirit in the 3rd but Sheffield saw off the game with that late goal. Both netminders took the man of the match awards from my point of view as King in the Peterborough net pulled off numerous saves to keep his team in the game in the first 2 periods whilst Bowns made the big penalty shot save when needed whilst also standing firm throughout the game.